iFixit’s Preliminary Findings Regarding iPad Mini

We received word earlier today that the fine folks at iFixit have begun to teardown the iPad mini in order to shed some light on the components driving the device.

The first interesting thing they found, was that Samsung produced the display driver chip. It is uncertain as to whether Samsung produced the display itself however. I for one would be surprised if Samsung produced the display, as the two companies are currently embroiled in a legal battle, and it appears that Apple is trimming back on buying components from Samsung.

Actually looking at the logic board iFixit found the A5 chip, which had already been announced by Apple. However, the code stamped on the device also reveals that the package was assembled in week 31 of this year, which corresponds to the end of July or the beginning of August.

Although some have claimed otherwise, iFixit confirms that the iPad mini does indeed have stereo speakers. However, due to the device’s size and the distance between the speakers, the benefits of stereo speakers is lost in most use cases.

Other little hardware facts that have been uncovered in this teardown include: 512 MB RAM, the same Murata 339S0171 Wi-Fi chip as seen in the Phone 5, and a single, large, 16.5 Whr battery.

So, what we now know, is that these little guys were in production at least as far back as late July or early August, they utilize some of the same components found in other currently shipping Apple products, and the battery is relatively large. Very cool. Let’s see if the folks at iFixit can uncover more goodies in the iPad mini.